Kiwi toddlers on line from the beginning

Nine out of 10 children under the age of 2 in New Zealand have some form of internet presence in the form of photos and email addresses, a study has found. Photo / Supplied

Nine out of 10 children under the age of 2 in New Zealand have some form of internet presence in the form of photos and email addresses, a study has found.

New Zealand families are at the forefront of an international trend to upload prenatal ultrasound images, tweet pregnancy experiences, make online photo albums of children from birth, and even create email addresses for babies, international internet security company AVG says.

Parents in New Zealand are increasingly building digital footprints for their children before birth and from the moment they are born, according to a survey the company carried out in New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The survey found that overall, 81 per cent of children under the age of2had some kind of digital profile, with images of them posted online.

In the US, 92 per cent of children have an online presence by the time they are 2. NZ toddlers close behind at 91 per cent. Canada and Australia, at 84 per cent, lead the other nations, which averaged 73 per cent in Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Japan was well behind on 43 per cent.

The research found the average digital appearance of children happened at about 6 months, and 41 per cent of New Zealand and Australian children had photos and information posted online within weeks of being born.

The next highest proportion of newborns with an online life from birth were in Britain and Canada (37 per cent each). Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of children begin their digital lives when parents uploaded prenatal scans to the internet, but this was more common in New Zealand (30 per cent), the US (34 per cent) and Canada (37 per cent).

Overall, 7 per cent of babies and toddlers have email addresses created for them by their parents, and 5 per cent have a social network profile. In New Zealand the figures were 4 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

Asked what motivated parents to post images of their babies on the internet, more than 70 per cent of the 2200 mothers surveyed said it was to share with friends and family.

But 22 per cent of American mothers said they wanted to add more content to their own social network profiles. The AVG survey found mothers were moderately concerned about the amount of online information that would be available on their children in future.

AVGurged parents to be aware of the privacy settings they had set on their social networks and other profiles.

- NZPA